Blackfish

Documentary is the most underrated category of film by far. These films tend to generate less buzz than blockbusters, therefore great films often go unnoticed. However if done right, these films can be exceptionally powerful, because they are able to do something that narrative films do not- tell true stories through the eyes of people that have lived them.

I may have been exceptionally late to the "Blackfish" viewing party, but at last I have seen it, and my viewpoints on the treatment of wildlife will never be the same again. This 2013 documentary, by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, chronicled the story of Tilikum, a SeaWorld orca whale responsible for taking the lives of three people.

This film serves as an exposé on the underlying manipulative corporate side of SeaWorld. I have never been keen on going to places such as aquariums or zoos. I have the distinct memory of going to the zoo as a child, where I experienced my first heartbreak about the mistreatment of animals. My smile quickly turned to a frown as I investigated the polar bear exhibit. I saw an environment with little ice, containing a too-skinny polar bear with eyes full of sorrow. It was a hot summer day, and this poor bear looked miserable under the sun. It was at this young age that I recognized the importance of not providing business to zoos, and other attractions like SeaWorld. I remember reading books about the mistreatment of animals in zoos when they first came to America. Since my youth, I have resisted trips to these facilities.

I saw this film almost a week ago, and the material has been haunting my mind ever since. "Blackfish" is a very powerful movie that is not for the weak-of-heart- that being said it is a film that everyone should experience. It emphasizes the importance of leaving animals as nature intended. This film tackles many important subjects, and effectively develops each point fully. It not only outlines the horrific incidences of human deaths, but the psychological and physical pain underwent by the animals.

I learned a lot from this film. Marine life is very interesting, though I must admit I knew little about the habits of orca whales before viewing this documentary. I learned that orcas are very social creatures. Studies have shown that the part of their brain encompassing emotion have further developments than human brains. They are extremely sympathetic animals. Orcas are arranged into matriarchal societies. This film provided a nice foundation of basic information before getting into the nitty gritty of their story.

The film then uncovered the unfortunate reality of the mistreatment of orcas at SeaWorld. This mistreatment eventually led to psychological damage, which promoted the deaths of multiple SeaWorld trainers. Since SeaWorld is a popular tourist attraction, footage of these occurrences was readily available. The video documentation may be painful to watch, however strongly supports the points addressed in the film. I don't want to explain every aspect of this film, as it is very important to watch firsthand (it's on Netflix- check it out!) This was a very powerful film that brought my attention to issues that can easily be overlooked by those not directly involved.

Across The Universe

While "Across the Universe" only got a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, it remains one of my all-time favorites. This 2007 film tells the story of characters Jude and Lucy, among others, in a psychedelic 1970s anti-war Greenwich Village. The most mesmerizing component of this film is the seamless incorporation of Beatles songs. The film director/writer Julie Taymor pulled a Mamma Mia, creating a storyline around preexisting music. This is a risky maneuver, and very tricky to do correctly. While the plots created in this movie reveal overdone romances that would normally make me roll my eyes, the fact that these are constructed around Beatles songs make me smile. Aspects of the movie that could be viewed as corny, such as naming all of the characters after Beatles songs, I find endearing.

This film takes the viewer on a complex journey through historical events of the 1960s. The storylines of several different characters are woven together through music. The characters are what would be expected out of a movie about the politics of the 1960s- Max, the college dropout who gets shipped off to war; Lucy, a naive girl who moves from middle America to New York; Jude, an Englishman finding himself as an artist in the city- but I can't see the film being done any other way. The plot expands between different cities and even different countries, demonstrating different mentalities found in the sixties. The story unfolds not through plot and dialogue, but through music. Nearly everything expressed in the movie is expressed through a Beatles song. While many critics think this is a cheesy and nearly artificial way of telling a story, I think it is exceptionally unique and beautiful.

One significant component of the film are the daring atypical visual effects. Channeling the psychedelic aspects of the sixties, certain parts of the film are designed to feel like an acid trip. There are underwater dance-like scenes. Jude creates art with bleeding strawberries. Soldiers are designed to look like G.I. Joes. These scenes may be a lot for a viewer to process, yet they are exceptionally powerful. Not only do they add to the film, but they demonstrate certain elements of the Beatles' music that we know were influenced by drugs.

I can certainly understand why this film is not appealing to everyone. It is fairly avant-garde and a lot of the romances and plotpoints are fairly predictable. I may be biased because the Beatles are my favorite band in the entire world, I adore Greenwich Village, and the sixties are my favorite time period- scratch that, I am undoubtably biased. It would have been really, really easy for this movie to be atrociously bad. Nothing frustrates me more than visual effects that make the film seem like it's trying too hard. Also, bad covers of Beatles songs really break my heart. The saving grace of this movie, without a doubt my favorite component, is the incredible soundtrack. I listen to it practically daily and just can't get enough. The arrangements and the vocals of the covers are astonishing. The set design and costumes are fitting for the time period. While this film may not be for everyone, I highly recommend it for Beatles fans and people interested the sixties.

My Belated Commentary on the Academy Awards

Although this is long overdue, I cannot NOT give my feedback on the Academy Awards. I will start by saying that I am still on cloud nine because LEO GOT HIS OSCAR. It is about time. The only people that should be disappointed by this fact are the "Leo wants his Oscar" meme creators. But I will get back to that later.

To start, I have to comment on Chris Rock's hosting job. I was really curious and excited to see what he would do this year, considering so many people boycotted the Oscar's due to the lack of racial diversity. Of course, Chris Rock used this as the launching pad of his performance. I adored his opening monologue. I thought it was brilliant. His comments were very pointed and direct, yet funny. This was a great way to open the show, as it addressed the elephant in the room right away. However, this commentary continued throughout the entire program. While many people thought he did a wonderful hosting job, I think he relied far too much on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. Frequently when the camera panned the audience, people looked super uncomfortable. Nobody quite knew how to properly respond to Rock's remarks. This tone of hosting was continuos throughout the entire show. For example, Rock interviewed black moviegoers on the films they saw this year. It was sort of funny, but once again, mostly uncomfortable.

As for my random commentary that I care to touch upon, I really appreciated some of the newer tactics used for the presentation of the awards this year. For example, in the past, when nominees are announced the screen is full of tiny boxes showcasing each nominee- I always thought this looked a little tacky. This year, elegant shots of the nominees were projected on the actual stage rather than a different screen. This kept the attention on the presenter as well as the nominees, and looked very elegant.

I won't discuss every single win of the evening, as that would be a mighty feat. The most unpredictable win of the night was "Spotlight", which one Best Picture. There are years in which the winner of best picture is highly predictable- 2016 was not one of those years. It basically boiled down to a toss-up between "Spotlight" and "The Revenant". As stated in my previous blog post, I fully expected "The Revenant" to win due to the nature of its subject matter as well as the astounding cinematography and direction. That being said, I really genuinely hoped "Spotlight" would win, as I think it is the more important film. Once again, I wrote a separate post on my opinions about the two films, but ultimately "Spotlight" won best picture, and I could not be more pleased with the results. 

Also, just look how cute the cast of Spotlight were: 

I may have absolutely adored "The Revenant", but I am not at all disappointed that it didn't win Best Picture. It took home other awards, including Best Cinematography, Best Director (making Inarritu the first director to win this award two years in a row!), and Best Actor with Leonardo DiCaprio... which brings this post back to my boy Leo! I could honestly rant about why Leo deserves every award ever for hours, but for now I will stick to commenting on his amazing speech. While I'm sure he's been rehearsing an Oscar speech in his head for years now, his acceptance speech was truly incredible. For a man with this much talent to give such a humbling speech would make any publicists' dreams come true. Leonardo titles himself as an "actor and environmentalist", and brilliantly tied the film "The Revenant" to his mission to save the planet. He talked about the significance of climate change, and truly projected his philosophies effectively without sounding arrogant. Perhaps my favorite part of the speech was when Leo thanked Martin Scorsese- they have been my favorite actor/director duo for years. His speech melted my heart, and I certainly hope it is not the last acceptance speech we hear from him.

One of the more awkward moments of the night was Sam Smith's acceptance speech for the song "'Til It Happens To You", where he mistakenly referred to himself as the first openly gay man to win an Oscar (when in fact several have before). It's okay, Sam, that Oscar in your hand will shine bright for years to come regardless of your speech. One of the most surprising parts of the Academy Awards for me was the colossal volume of awards received by "Mad Max: Fury Road". This was one of the few nominees that I had not seen, and I have come to regret this decision. It swept up award after award. The final shock of the evening was when Chris Rock sold Girl Scout cookies to audience members to help out his daughter. This ultimately raised over $60,000, which was a smart move on Rock's part. Just look at how happy these celebrities are to get their cookies:

Mindy Kaling's Twitter Post of her cookies

There are many aspects of the Academy Awards from this year that could be touched upon, but these are the parts that stood out to me most. I was initially pleased by the hosting job of Chris Rock, yet ultimately disappointed (still an improvement over Neil Patrick Harris). Over all, I am very pleased with the outcome of the 2016 Academy Awards. Now time to patiently await next year!

Why I Think "The Revenant" Will Win Best Picture, But "Spotlight" Should, and Other Oscar Predictions

TOMORROW IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN CHRISTMAS. With the Academy Awards only one day away, it is time for me to address my predictions for the winners this year. Unfortunately, I have not seen every single film nominated for every single category. Believe me, I am as disappointed by this fact as you are.

I have written blogs on a few of the films I've seen that are nominated for the Oscars this year. I wrote independently on both "Spotlight" and "The Revenant". In my opinion these were the two standout films of the year. It is no secret that I am absolutely in love with Leonardo DiCaprio, and "The Revenant" completely blew me away. However, I wholeheartedly think that "Spotlight" was the more important film. It beautifully captured the importance of journalism, a field that is underrepresented in Hollywood. I won't go into depth on either of these films, since I previously reviewed them. Over all, I think the spot for best picture will come down to these two films. While both are spectacular, I think "The Revenant" will win best picture, but "Spotlight" should win. "Spotlight" not only tells the story of the scandal of priests sexual abusing children, but why journalism matters. "Spotlight" was able to go steps beyond demonstrating the importance of journalism- after the movie was released, many other people came forward with reports of sexual abuse conducted by priests. It was an exceptionally impressive and eye-opening film. "The Revenant" has many of the bells and whistles the academy looks for, though, that I think will lead it to ultimately beat out "Spotlight". The extreme tactics of Inarritu will likely place it on a higher ranking with the Academy, just at his film "Birdman" won best picture last year.

As for best actor, Leo better finally get his Oscar. While I can argue why "The Revenant" shouldn't necessarily win best picture, I think it will beat out competitors in several other categories. Unfortunately I haven't seen the other films that were nominated for actor in a leading role (curse the busy and broke life of a college student), I can wholeheartedly say that Leonardo DiCaprio finally deserves to get his Oscar. I have seen most of the films he's been in, and he honestly amazes me more with every role he takes on.

I think Inarritu's daring decisions as a director will set him apart once again in the eyes of the Academy, leading him to deservingly win best director. The choices of Inarritu, in combination with the choices of cinematographer Lubezki, will also beat out other films and win best cinematography.

For best actress, I think Brie Larson should and will win for her stellar performance in "Room". She has received spectacular reviews across the board. Her moving performance definitely stood out in comparison to the other actresses nominated for the category.

Actor in a supporting role seems like a bit of a toss-up to me. I thought Christian Bale did an unbelievable job portraying Michael Burry in "The Big Short" and should win for his performance. I doubt that Mark Ruffalo will win for his performance in "Spotlight", but he also did a spectacular job. I am never ever disappointed by Mark Ruffalo. He's just a lovable teddy bear.

I have heard wonderful things about Alicia Vikander's role in "The Danish Girl", and think she is a strong contender in the category of best supporting actress. Unfortunately I haven't seen this film so I can't validate this. I honestly don't understand the hype over Rooney Mara's performance in "Carol"- I was highly disappointed by most aspects of this film, with the exception of set design and costume design."

This leads me to my next prediction, that "Mad Max: Fury Road" will win best costume design. I always am impressed by all of the costumes nominated for this category. I haven't seen "Mad Max: Fury Road", but it received lots of positive feedback as well.

To quickly finish up (I won't list every single prediction I have), best adapted screenplay should go to "The Big Short" and best original screenplay should go to "Spotlight". "Amy" entirely deserves to win best documentary, as this was one of the best films I've seen all year.

I hope you all enjoy this year's Academy Awards as much as I will, and I will be giving my feedback on the event shortly!

A League of Their Own

I have to start this blog post by saying that my initial decision to watch A League of Their Own was out of obligation. I've heard great things about this movie and it was on Netflix, so I felt it was my cinematic duty to watch it. All I knew before watching the film was that Tom Hanks was in it, and it was about a women's baseball team. Although I adore Tom Hanks, the idea of watching a women's baseball team for two hours did not appeal to me. However, my negative bias had little impact on my overall opinion of the film after seeing it.

Since I knew very little about the premise of A League of Their Own before watching it, I was extremely pleased by the storyline. This movie unveils the true story of the Rockford Peaches, one of the first all-women professional baseball teams. The women's baseball league was formed during World War II, since many professional baseball players left to join the military. The main character, Dottie Hinson, is played by Geena Davis. Unfortunately, my only knowledge of her before seeing this movie was her role in Grey's Anatomy (I'm the movie buff who shamefully has yet to see Thelma and Louise). However, she is easily the best actor in the film. Tom Hanks portrays their alcoholic manager, Jimmy Dugan. He also does a great job, but this role cannot possibly compare to the other roles he has taken on. While the cast as a whole is phenomenal- surprisingly including Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell- Davis is the one that truly shines.

Besides Davis's standout performance, there were other aspects of the film that really drew me in. First of all, I tend to gravitate towards movies that tell true stories. My inner history nerd lives for them. The film was able to effectively demonstrate how the creation of a women's team was a significant reality in these women's lives that impacted their futures. Since in modern society there is such a strong push for gender equality, it was great to see how, even in the 1940s, women could demonstrate their equal worth. Although the team was created simply because men weren't around to play baseball, the all-women's team showed the world that they can be just as valuable athletes as men.

I do think, however, that this movie tried a little hard to, no pun intended, cover all the bases. It wanted to make you laugh. It wanted to make you cry. It wanted you to believe Madonna could've been a professional ball player. This is all too much for this type of film to take on. While there are funny moments, and the storyline is heartfelt and moving, a movie who tried to excel in all of these areas is rarely done seamlessly. The cinematography was nothing special. I can understand that this is not one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, but it did entertain me. Sometimes even the toughest critics have to stop overanalyzing and just base their critiques on the enjoyment factor of a film.

Amy

Ever since I was young I have had a fascination with Amy Winehouse. I was ten years old when she came out with her second album Back to Black. My parents would play Rehab and Me & Mr. Jones on a loop as they were preparing dinner. I remember waiting in line at the grocery store and seeing her face all over tabloid magazines. Eating disorders, drunken performances, drug use... her world was unlike anything I've ever encountered. This extreme and troubling lifestyle piqued by interest. I was fifteen years old when Amy Winehouse died. She was only twenty seven years old, and this seemed impossibly young to me. Even though Amy Winehouse's album has continuously played on my iPod for nearly a decade, I never took the time to thoroughly learn about her life, as I had routinely done with my other favorite musicians. This last summer, the documentary Amy, directed by Asif Kapadia, was released. Amy is one of the most impactful and emotional documentaries I've seen. It is now rightfully in the running for the Academy Award of Best Documentary.

What was most chilling about the documentary was the clarity of Amy Winehouse's pain. Archived footage was used for the film, so we were able to hear Amy tell her story. Although her friends and family were interviewed throughout the movie, Amy's voice and viewpoint are dominant. The entire film is beautifully entwined with Amy's music. The placement of Amy's songs clearly demonstrated the emotional significance that they had to her. The viewer is able to understand how each song stemmed from Amy's personal life. She allowed music to be an expressive outlet for her experiences.
It is heartbreaking watching Amy experience seemingly endless hardships in her life. Yet the film is able to reinforce that Amy's songs were drawn from her pain. Each song was deeply personal to her, and the film was able to tell the stories surrounding them through Amy's eyes. There was nothing forced about this documentary. Things aren't being spun by journalists or the media, which was the case during her life, as the story is kept close to Amy's perspective.

I was amazed that this documentary was able to go so far beyond Amy's music and a basic timeline of her life. It was truly able to demonstrate the dangers of addiction and drug use- which were brought on by the toxicity of a relationship. The crippling effects of the paparazzi and the media were another well-addressed aspect of Amy's life. Fame completely derailed Amy. She is shown in countless interviews expressing since the early stages of her career that it would not be something she could handle. Sure enough, she was right.

There were very few elements of Amy that I would criticize. There were minor things that I didn't find necessary, such as text on the screen displaying song lyrics. I see how this may have been done intentionally, meant to clarify wording that may be hard to accurately detect through the song. However I found it slightly distracting and took away from the raw emotion seen in Amy's face on screen. Over all though, there are very few elements that I found to be flawed.

The film Amy beautifully showcases Amy Winehouse's incredible talent as a singer/songwriter. There have been several documentaries done on Amy Winehouse, but Amy feels raw. It takes the viewer on a journey of her suffering, which led her to her magnificent creations. It is sad to think that Amy Winehouse lived only long enough to grace us with two albums. This film is a great tribute to the woman with a mesmerizing voice that left the world too soon.

The Big Short

I can only imagine how difficult it would be to successfully create a comical yet serious film about economics. As a student at a school of the arts and communications, I have expressed little interest in economics in the past. However, the film The Big Short was effectively able to capture my attention through humor, as well as creatively telling the story of the 2008 housing crisis in a lighthearted yet crucial manner. I walked away from the film not only blown away by cast performances, but with a newfound understanding and interest in this national phenomenon.

One of the biggest names in Hollywood is Brad Pitt. If his name is attached to a project, it is placed with high expectations. Although Brad Pitt has blessed audience members with this appearances on the big screen for decades, in the past ten years Pitt has been showing off his skills behind the scenes as a producer. His phenomenal work is evident in films such as The Departed, Moneyball, and 12 Years a Slave. In 2015 he demonstrated his knack for producing in the film The Big Short, nominated for 2016 Best Picture at the Academy Awards. While this film may have had several producers, the fact that Pitt attached himself to it demonstrates the level of importance it must have held for him. Pitt has been known to take small roles in the films he has produced, and The Big Short was no exception. No matter the size of the role Pitt takes on, he puts everything he has into the performance. The performances, combined with production value, places The Big Short as a contender for the most prestigious film award of the year.

Now when I first heard about the release of the film The Big Short, I knew two things about it: it had an incredible cast, and it was about the housing crisis of 2008. These two pieces of information held different weights to me- for years I have been obsessing over the works of actors such as Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, and Ryan Gosling. However, I was 12 years old when the housing crisis took place, and knew very little about it. Therefore, I didn't have an overwhelming initial interest in an economic situation, however I knew that viewing this film could potentially be a good way to learn about it.

This film was based off of a book by Michael Lewis. The brilliance behind the film is that the director, Adam McKay, understands the convoluted nature of the financial crisis. It would be so easy to make this film either far too dense, in which terminology goes over people's heads, or to oversimplify the economic issues and not deliver a realistic representation of what actually happened. However, the density of Wall Street was not compromised for the sake of audience understanding. Instead, McKay took a unique approach to connect to the audience and explain the sequence of  events in ways they can understand. First, the film is narrated by Ryan Gosling's character, Jared Vennett, breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience. In the opening, we are given some background information on the start of the film, explaining the shift in banking in the 1970s. In addition to helpful narration, McKay decided to include celebrity cameos throughout the film to explain terminology. In so many words the narrator would say, "Now here's Margot Robbie in a bathtub sipping champagne to explain sub-prime loans..." This strategy was brilliantly used to break down financial concepts to the viewer.

It would be excessive to explain every single storyline and go through the entire plot of the film. I find it more important to analyze the performances of the cast. It can sometimes be a red flag to see such a big-name cast. In some cases, films rely on casting A-list celebrities to carry out a subpar film (ex. Bradley Cooper in The Words). However the casting of The Big Short was impeccable. Each actor delivered a spectacular performance. The standout performance in the film was that of Christian Bale. He played Michael Burry, a nerdy Birkenstocks-and-oversized-tee-shirt-wearing hedge fund manager from Silicon Valley. in fact- Bale asked the real Michael Burry for his shirt and cargo shorts, which he wore in the film. Burry was one of the first people to predict the housing crisis. Bale convincingly portrayed a metalhead who blasts music at work and plays the drums. What impresses me most is not exclusive to Bale's performance, but extends to other cast members- they are all portraying real people. This is always a feat that amazes me when done well (this is the same reason for my praise of Spotlight).

I was impressed by every performance. Ryan Gosling has always been one of my favorite actors. He has been in great films in the past, including The Place Beyond the Pines and Drive. However, my world stopped and my heart broke when he announced his break from acting in 2013. This has been his first major role since his break- there is no better way to make a comeback. His character comes closest to DiCaprio's portrayal of a Wall Street man in The Wolf of Wall Street. However is character felt much more natural. For example, classically handsome Gosling drastically changed his appearance- frankly, looking creepy- in order to demonstrate that not everyone on Wall Street is perfectly groomed and polished. Brad Pitt took a similar approach and altered his appearance as well. The commitments actors made to their roles payed off.

In general, I think it would be in anyone's best interest to see the film The Big Short. You will learn a lot. You will laugh. You will be amazed by the acting. It is not simply by chance that this film is nominated for Best Picture. CHECK. IT. OUT.